London has been battered by 50mph winds that have felled trees and caused travel chaos. Powerful gusts swept across the capital as the Met Office issued a yellow "be aware" weather alert for most of the country.

If anyone needed evidence that the good times are no longer rolling in the City, this report provides it.

But the grim reading about jobs poised to hit a 20-year low will come as no surprise to those who work in or closely follow the health of London’s financial sector.

Since trading volumes slumped, advisory work dried up and new listings remain as rare as hen’s teeth, the only way for staffing levels has been down — as witnessed by the cull at UBS last week.

The Swiss bank isn’t alone. RBS and Barclays are also shrinking. Across town, hedge funds in Mayfair are stripping out bodies.

This isn’t just a London phenomenon. Wall Street and Frankfurt are being hit too. As institutions have given up on some of the more exotic instruments they traded in the boom time, so have they given up on those who traded them.

Efforts to rein in a dangerous bonus culture are also costing jobs. The shift to higher basic salaries and smaller bonuses means when times are hard, staff are an unacceptable cost.

It isn’t all bad. This data excludes the insurance sector, responsible for most of the City’s new property lettings. Nor does it factor in professional services firms who remain heavy graduate recruiters. But the City must steel itself to grow again from here.

Icy blast may be on way for high street

Just like Marmite, the sponsor of this year’s Oxford Street Christmas lights, the state of the High Street divides opinion.

Retailers who gathered at House of Fraser last night to toast Robbie Williams flicking the switch were grinning at last week’s perfect storm. Thanks to the coalescing of cold weather, payday and half term, shoppers upgrading their winter gear were in plentiful supply. The West End has seen a rosy, post-Olympics glow in September and October.

But set against today’s latest numbers from M&S and Primark, the picture is less clear. M&S convincing people it is offering this season’s fashions will be tough. Primark’s growth isn’t giving M&S an easy time.

The British Retail Consortium’s latest data flags a slowdown in sales growth last month that doesn’t bode well. While consumers have money to spend this Christmas, stores will have to battle to win their share of it.